“Green Book” writer and producer Nick Vallelonga has deleted his Twitter account after one of his old social media posts from 2015, in which he seemed to back Donald Trump’s claim that New Jersey Muslims cheered on 9/11, resurfaced online.
In November 2015, Trump made headlines after the then-presidential candidate said without evidence that he “watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering.”
Vallelonga replied to Trump, “100% correct. Muslims in Jersey City cheering when towers went down. I saw it, as you did, possibly on local CBS news.”
Reps for Vallelonga did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. But a publicist for the writer told IndieWire: “The twitter account has been deleted… not sure if any comment is actually needed here.”
The resurfaced tweet comes just days after “Green Book” took home the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy on Sunday. But Wednesday was a bad day for “Green Book” all around: The film’s director, Peter Farrelly, apologized for repeatedly flashing his penis two decades ago in an attempt to be funny.
Universal did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
In November 2015, Trump told ABC’s “This Week” that “there were people that were cheering on the other side of New Jersey, where you have large Arab populations. They were cheering as the World Trade Center came down. I know it might be not politically correct for you to talk about it, but there were people cheering as that building came down — as those buildings came down. And that tells you something.”
Weeks later, Trump doubled down on his story, telling Alex Jones’ “InfoWars” that he heard from “four or five” supporters after making the claim who said, “‘Mr. Trump, I saw it myself! I was there!’”
But Trump’s version of events was challenged by major news outlets, including The New Yorker and The Washington Post, which, after trying to fact-check the story, concluded: “This is a bit like writing about the hole in the doughnut — how can you write about nothing?”
Vallelonga’s tweet was deleted Wednesday evening shortly after it was resurfaced. The writer’s entire Twitter account was deleted soon after.
The contentious tweet comes as the writer and producer is on tour to promote his award-winning film — based on his father’s real-life experience driving concert pianist Dr. Don Shirley through the deep South in 1962.
I've confirmed that #GreenBook producer Nick Vallelonga did tweet in 2015 that he saw "Muslims in Jersey City cheering when towers went down" on 9/11. That tweet and the account behind it have been deleted. Vallelonga had no comment. More here: https://t.co/9dfgg2tqVR
— Adam B. Vary (@adambvary) January 10, 2019